Chapter 491: Fourth Prince
Chapter 491: Chapter 491: Fourth Prince
Everyone inside heard the commotion, and the atmosphere instantly turned awkward.
Emperor Muwu was both angry and annoyed. "Utterly improper!"
Eunuch Li came jogging in, caught in a dilemma. "Your Majesty, Consort Ru refuses to leave. She is of noble birth, and we servants dare not use force. You... you..."
Consort Ru had, after all, been greatly favored for many years. Who would dare lay a hand on her?
Even now, Emperor Muwu had not stripped her of her Noble Consort title. Although he had grown cold toward her, who could guarantee that Consort Ru wouldn’t win back his favor in the future?
So, in the end, the problem was pushed back onto Emperor Muwu.
Emperor Muwu’s expression was frighteningly dark.
Shen Yanchuan suddenly said, "Your Majesty’s health has just recovered, and you must not overexert yourself. This subject will take his leave for today."
The others also realized the situation. This was an ugly scene, and Emperor Muwu probably didn’t want them to witness it. It was best to leave quickly.
Thus, they also spoke up one after another, asking for permission to leave.
However, Emperor Muwu stopped them. "Stay! Not a single one of you is to leave!"
The men looked at each other, but Shen Yanchuan’s eyebrow arched slightly, as if he was not surprised by this at all.
Emperor Muwu said to Eunuch Li in a low, stern voice, "Didn’t she say that rebellious son of hers was framed? Then let her in! Let her explain it clearly in front of all my ministers!"
Eunuch Li acknowledged the command and immediately went out to escort her in.
Chen Songshi frowned.
’His Majesty’s meaning... He clearly wants to give Consort Ru, or rather, Xiao Chengxuan, another chance!’
But they were a family, after all—the Royal Family. What right did the ministers have to interfere?
He glanced at Shen Yanchuan, who stood to the side, and saw that his expression was composed, as if he had anticipated this all along.
In that instant, Chen Songshi realized—
’That young man! His scheming runs too deep!’
’His earlier offer to leave was meant to provoke Emperor Muwu into making us stay!’
’If Consort Ru had come to plead her case alone, her tearful pleas might have softened Emperor Muwu’s heart. But with all these other people watching, even if Consort Ru were to weep, the Emperor couldn’t be too indulgent.’
’Xiao Chengxuan’s case has implications that are too great. Even if Emperor Muwu were willing to relent, the court officials would never agree to let him off easy!’
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Consort Ru was helped in by a palace maid.
The moment she saw the two rows of ministers in the room, Consort Ru’s heart skipped a beat.
But the thought of saving her son won out. Heedless of everything else, she squeezed her eyes shut, gritted her teeth, and knelt directly on the floor as tears streamed down her face.
"Your Majesty! Your subject has acted this way only because I had no other choice!"
Emperor Muwu’s brow twitched.
He hadn’t seen her in some time, and Consort Ru had clearly lost a lot of weight. Her former plump, lustrous beauty was gone. The well-tailored palace robes hung loosely on her, her frame now noticeably gaunt.
In the few steps she took to enter, her gait was unsteady. She was as frail as a willow in the wind, looking as if a breeze could blow her over at any moment.
She was, after all, the beloved consort who had been by his side for many years. Seeing her miserable state, Emperor Muwu felt a pang of pity.
"You should be staying put in Yaohua Palace! What are you doing here?"
Consort Ru stared at him blankly and gave a bitter laugh. "How can Your Majesty ask such a thing? ...You, of all people, should know why your ailing subject has dragged her sick body here."
Emperor Muwu’s gaze was dark and severe, his emotions unreadable.
Consort Ru kowtowed again.
"My son is about to be murdered! How can I turn a blind eye?! How can I pretend nothing is happening and just wait to die of old age in Yaohua Palace!?"
She straightened up, her eyes bloodshot, filled with grievance and sorrow.
"Your Majesty, Cheng Xuan is your son, too! Are you just going to stand by and watch him be framed?!"
Everyone remained silent. The air around them seemed to freeze.
Emperor Muwu spoke coldly. "You say he was framed. Do you have any proof?"
Consort Ru was truly at her wit’s end.
With Jiang Zhao Yuan’s downfall and Xiao Chengxuan’s imprisonment, she had tried to contact numerous people, both openly and in secret, but they always had some excuse.
’She could see that no one was willing to get involved in this mess.’
’When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. She was finally seeing it for herself.’
After thinking it over and over, her only option was to seek out Emperor Muwu.
’As long as he relents, no one will dare to take Xiao Chengxuan’s life!’
Consort Ru clutched her chest and sobbed. "I know Cheng Xuan. He may be a bit arrogant on a normal day, but he would never dare to harbor thoughts of treason! The Nanhu are thousands of miles away; how could he possibly have contact with them? If he had really done it, there would be some trace of evidence. But Your Majesty! Aside from those Southern Hu Blade Men suddenly appearing during the autumn hunt, has Cheng Xuan ever had the slightest connection to them before? This is clearly a setup! Someone has framed him and wants him dead!"
Emperor Muwu’s eyes were heavy.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t had his own suspicions, but the evidence and testimony that were presented one after another left him no choice but to believe.
"Since you’re so certain, then—this case file. How do you explain it?"
Consort Ru was stunned. "A case file?"
Emperor Muwu threw the case file at her. "See for yourself!"
Dazed and uneasy, Consort Ru finally picked up the case file.
She had only just opened it and glanced at a few lines when she froze in shock. By the end, she was trembling all over, shaking her head desperately. "No! Impossible! There’s something wrong with this Huang Kun! These so-called instructions he mentions... Your subject has never heard of them! This is slander, pure and simple!"
’She never would have imagined it. Back then, she had only arranged for one of her own people to be sent in to make Xiao Chengxuan’s days at Chengxin Lake a little easier. In the end, it was this very person who delivered the fatal blow!’
Emperor Muwu simply looked down at her, his gaze cold.
"Didn’t you personally select and send this Huang Kun over?"
Consort Ru was instantly speechless.
Her mind raced wildly, trying to find a response, but she couldn’t utter a single word.
Chen Songshi suddenly spoke up. "Your Majesty, regarding this Huang Kun, this subject seems to have some recollection."
All eyes turned to him.
Emperor Muwu knitted his brows. "You’ve seen him?"
Chen Songshi said thoughtfully, "If he once served at Hanzhang Hall, then he should be the one this subject has seen before."
That was strange.
"Hanzhang Hall?"
"Yes. Your Majesty may have forgotten, but one of the little eunuchs who served the Fourth Prince was named Huang Kun."
As soon as he said this, the room fell into a dead silence.
The Fourth Prince was still young when his accident happened, and many years have passed since then.
How could Emperor Muwu possibly remember the name of a little eunuch?
Chen Songshi sighed. "At the time, you were enraged by the Fourth Prince’s injury and were about to punish all the servants of Hanzhang Hall. It was only because the Fourth Prince pleaded desperately that you showed mercy. Even so, a beating with the rod was unavoidable. The reason this subject remembers that Huang Kun is because I once happened upon him in a palace corner, bribing the guard in charge of the punishment to go easy on him."
This sort of thing was quite common in the palace, but for Chen Songshi to remember it so vividly, there was naturally another reason.
"The inkstone he used for the bribe was the Fourth Prince’s personal property."